I walked to school every day from First grade on, until I got a car. But times are different. In all those years I was never even approached by a stranger. Now, the consequences are so dire, it’s just not worth it.

Good for you. So did I, and my siblings, in New York City, no less. By the time my kids were ready for school, in a much safer place than NYC, it was too far to walk, too expensive for the (private school) bus (since the public schools were and are so inferior), and too damn dangerous.

Celebrate bravery all you want, but when it comes to kids, parents are all they've got between them and the world as it is, not how we wish it could be.